James Cameron held a press conference yesterday with Amazonian
indigenous leaders and environmental experts following his return with
Arnold Schwarzenegger from a visit to the Big Bend region of the Xingu
River, the site of the proposed Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon.
Calling the Dam a "human rights crisis" for Brazil, Cameron - who has
visited the Xingu Region three times in the past year - made an appeal
to the Brazilian government and public to use this crisis as an
opportunity to lead Brazil into a more ecologically sound energy path.

Cameron also participated in the Global Sustainability Forum where he
shared the stage with Schwarzenegger in a dynamic discussion touching
on the challenges that countries face when moving from an old model of
energy, exemplified by large dams, to a new model based on energy
efficiency, solar and wind power. Cameron pointed to the experience of
California under Schwarzenegger's leadership in stimulating growth in
green jobs, solar and wind power.

Cameron was joined by legendary Kayapo Chief Raoni Txucarramãe,
indigenous leader Sheyla Juruna of the Xingu Alive Forever movement,
and Philip Fearnside and Francisco Hernandez, leading specialists on
climate change and sustainable energy in Brazil.

"The Brazilian government is not open to dialogue with its own people,"
said Sheyla Juruna, a leader of the Juruna people who are directly
affected by the Belo Monte Dam. "It consistently violates its own laws
and constitution, especially with regard to the requirement to consult
indigenous people about the impacts of Belo Monte and other
mega-projects."

Kayapo Chief Raoni Txucarramãe said his people are holding
assemblies and preparing for a campaign of resistance to stop the dam.
"President Dilma and Lula before her have shown a lack of compassion
for the enormous suffering that the flooding and displacement the
project will bring to my people and the other peoples of the Xingu.

"The government has been ignoring the findings of the courts against
the illegality of the building of the dams, so we are going over the
heads of government and the courts to organize broad alliances of both
indigenous and non-indigenous people, NGOs and government to appeal
directly to public opinion and support," continued Txucarramãe.

Cameron said, "Listening to people on the ground in the forest who
will be directly affected, and to the experts, it's clear that Belo
Monte is an ill-conceived project not only in terms of economic
efficiency, but especially because of the lack of transparency,
participation and inclusion of indigenous peoples and local
communities.

"The most important thing is to raise awareness in Brazil that Belo
Monte is not a good solution for meeting the country's energy needs -
given its poor economic and the moral and ethical issues, to say
nothing of its enormous toll on indigenous peoples and other
inhabitants of the Xingu. The Brazilian taxpayers could save billions
by cancelling the dam and investing in truly renewable energy.

"Meeting the challenges of a green energy future requires that we all
learn from each other - US from Brazil and Brazil from examples like
California. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke here about how breaking a new
path towards a green energy future has created more jobs in California
than traditional industry and service sectors. Brazil has the potential
to be a world leader in promoting sustainable energy at a global
scale," concluded Cameron.

"We need to dispel the myth that big dams represent clean and
renewable energy, considering their enormous social and environmental
consequences," said Francisco Hernandez, an energy policy expert from
the University of São Paulo. "Brazil is not pursuing a clean and
diversified energy matrix but rather developing a single gigantic
source, in spite of all of the recognized problems these projects
bring."

Philip Fearnside, scientist with the National Institute of Amazon
Research (INPA), pointed to the significant climate footprint of large
dams given their methane emissions, a global warming gas 25-35 times
more potent than CO2. "While economic development is the stated goal of
the dam, the great part of its electricity goes to metal smelting, for
example producing aluminum ingots, a raw material which is mostly
exported and creating only 2.7 jobs per gigawatt hour of electricity,"
said Fearnside.

The risky $17 billion Belo Monte Dam would be the world's third
largest dam. It would divert nearly the entire flow of the Xingu River
along a 62-mile stretch. Its reservoirs will flood more than 120,000
acres of rainforest and local settlements, displace between 20,000 and
40,000 people and generate vast quantities of methane. A partial
installation license was issued for the dam project in late January
despite the dam building consortium's failure to meet dozens of
environmental and social pre-conditions.